Beverage Industry logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Beverage Industry logo
  • NEWS
    • R&D News
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Products
    • Reader's Choice Poll
  • CATEGORIES
    • Alternative Drinks
    • Beer
    • Bottled Water
    • Cannabis Beverages
    • Carbonated Soft Drinks
    • Energy Drinks & Shots
    • Juice & Juice Drinks
    • Plant-Based Beverages
    • Sports Drinks
    • Tea and Coffee
    • Wine & Spirits
  • R&D
    • Beverage R&D Features
    • Ingredient Spotlight
  • PACKAGING
    • New Packages
    • Packaging Equipment
    • Packaging Material
  • OPERATIONS
    • Distribution
    • Plant Focus
  • TOP LISTS
    • Beer Market Report
    • Executive of the Year
    • State of the Beverage Industry
    • Top 100 Beverage Companies
    • Truck Report
    • Wholesaler of the Year
  • MEDIA
    • eBook
    • Podcast
    • Polls
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • DIRECTORIES
    • Annual Manual
    • Contract Packaging Guide
    • Take a Tour
  • MORE
    • Classifieds
    • Channel Strategies
    • eNewsletters
    • Events
      • Membrane Technology Forum
    • Interactive Product Spotlights
    • Market Insights
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Store
    • White Papers
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • Archived Issues
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
CommentaryWine & SpiritsDistribution

Tips to maximize fleets’ productivity

Fleet optimization plans can reduce asset counts, costs

By Jeff Cioletti
Fleet Management Practices - Beverage Industry
June 25, 2018

A critical element of a beverage fleet’s benchmarking strategy is, almost paradoxically, the equipment itself. Before looking to reduce miles driven, optimizing fuel usage, hitting sustainability targets and generally enhancing driver productivity, fleet managers should first maximize their trucks’ productivity.

A team might be delivering to more accounts with fewer miles and hours on the road, but are those vehicles spending enough hours on the road?

“If you spent $100,000 on a piece of equipment, you want to see it being used at least 60 percent of the time,” says Steve Golladay, owner and manager of the logistics consultancy Total Systems Thinking Solutions LLC and former vice president of supply chain services and support for Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (CCBCC). “I can tell you that some companies are operating a lot thinner, but accomplishing more because they have better fleet utilization.”

Doing more with less should be the real goal of any bottler or distributor’s fleet optimization strategy. Sure, you’re subjecting a single truck to more wear-and-tear if it’s used 50 or 60 percent vs. 35 percent of your business’s total delivery operation time. But, if correctly deployed, companies wouldn’t need to invest in as many such assets.

This fact has been one of the advantages of shifting away from traditional side-loaders to bulk-delivery trailers.

Golladay says fleet managers should ask, “Do I have to have a specialized fleet to handle certain types of deliveries?” Managers also should explore delivering to various customers using similar fleet assets, he adds.

Trucks with bulk trailers hooked up to them are cheaper to maintain and easier to use. If you’re able to deploy those to service a larger number of customers, you’ll be able to not only save on maintenance, but get more accounts picked-to-order and on the trucks.

“If you could change the asset to fit the workload, you can work across different types of delivery methods with a single delivery vehicle,” he continues.

Another big mindset shift involves changing how vehicles are matched with their drivers. Rather than assigning a truck to a particular driver, the vehicle should be assigned to a duty. Even during non-delivery times, an operator can latch a trailer to the tractor to do replenishment runs and drive up utilization even further.

When Golladay was managing CCBCC’s supply chain operations, the company’s drivers switched from a five-day to a four-day, 48-hour work week in major markets.

“They worked rotating schedules and we rotated the trucks between people,” he notes. “The people would work four days, but the truck would work six days, 72 hours a week. And the utilization went way up.”

Ultimately, utilization reached more than 65 percent, up from about 37 percent, he says. Additionally, drivers were less stressed and turnover plummeted.

Granted, most beverage delivery operations aren’t the size of Coke’s largest independent bottler in the United States, but even small operations can benefit from better asset utilization, as long as they have 10 or more vehicles.

However, it’s not just about the number of vehicles and the number of hours that they’re on the road. Rethinking regular maintenance practices plays a significant role. “If you take your hard assets, probably 45 to 50 percent of it is the cost of the capital, the depreciation and taxes.” Golladay notes. “And the rest is the maintenance costs, with different levels for different vehicles.”

If you perform all of your vehicle maintenance in-house, it’s important to assess whether it’s fully optimized or if certain functions that can be outsourced.

Many companies, for example, do their own body work, but does it make sense to have a full-time staffer with that skillset when they’re probably going to be spending more time performing mundane, day-to-day tasks than they are fixing dents and painting vehicles?

“It takes a lot of skill for that person who paints, sands and bonds and if you have sideloaders, it takes even more,” Golladay explains. “Do you need to pay for that kind of skilled labor? It’s a whole thought process, what makes sense to have in-house and what makes sense to outsource, and is there a hybrid piece to that?”

A potential ripple effect of such a process overhaul could be a significant reduction, or even complete elimination, of expensive parts inventory. When companies outsource some or all maintenance functions, the third-party service provider will stock its own parts. The larger the distributor, the more significant the savings, as a bigger company’s parts outlay could crack the seven-figure mark.

When it comes to optimizing overall beverage distribution fleet utilization, Golladay likes to apply a certain equine analogy.

“Fleet assets are like anything else: if you feed them they’ve got to do the work,” he says. “They can’t sit in the barn eating hay all day. They’ve got to plow the field and we’re not going to feed them hay if they’re not going to pull the plow.” BI

KEYWORDS: beverage fleet fleet efficiency fleet maintenance supply chain

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla shakes

    Classic flavors provide reliable, consistent results for beverage-makers

    Classic flavors of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry...
    Ingredient Spotlight
    By: Chloe Alverson
  • Free Spirits Instant Bar Bundle

    Lifestyle trends drive growth for non-alcohol category

    As lifestyle trends continue to drive growth for the...
    Wine & Spirits
    By: Lauren Sabetta
  • Younger generation displays unique habits when it comes to beverage consumption

    Generation Z shakes things up in beverage

    Experts share that Gen Z is changing the standard on what...
    Beverage News
    By: Chloe Alverson
Manage My Account
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • eMagazine Subscription
  • Manage My Preferences

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Beverage Industry audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Beverage Industry or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Fourpeople toasting with cocktails made with low-sugar ingredients, celebrating healthier drink options.
    Sponsored byCargill

    What’s Hot in Sugar Reduction: Beverages

  • chocolate milk
    Sponsored byCargill

    Sweetening the Future for Dairy and Dairy-Alternative Beverages

  • woman pouring a drink
    Sponsored byFFP

    Building a Beverage System: Meeting Consumer Demand for Precision Wellness

Popular Stories

Sting Energy

PepsiCo, Sting Energy unveil global partnership with Formula 1

PepsiCo + poppi

PepsiCo completes acquisition of poppi

people drinking Wynk

Mindful drinking prompts growth for THC beverages

Vote for your favorite new product

Have your say in what makes it to the top this month!
Vote for your favorite new product and help us celebrate excellence.


VOTE NOW!

Events

April 16, 2025

2025 State of the Industry Series: Alcoholic Beverages

On Demand In Beverage Industry’s annual State of the Industry: The Alcohol Beverage Market, analysts at S&D Insights LLC delve into these trends and how they’re shaping the industry.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Retail Coffee Segment

What retail coffee segments will fare well into the next year?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

Milk and Dairy Foods Nutrition, Processing and Healthy Aging

Milk and Dairy Foods Nutrition, Processing and Healthy Aging

See More Products

Related Articles

  • Tom Kelley

    Top 10 tips for summer driving for fleets

    See More
  • FUSO Fe gas model truck cabin interior.

    Truck manufacturers upgrading offerings to minimize stress, maximize comfort

    See More
  • John Peter Koss

    How to maximize a warehouse's core assets

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • ency brew.jpg

    Encyclopaedia of Brewing

See More Products

Related Directories

  • DMW&H

    DMW&H stands out as a premier provider of integrated material handling and automation solutions with a heritage dating back to 1964. Specializing in the design, implementation, and support of sophisticated warehouse and distribution systems across diverse industries, DMW&H has cultivated particular expertise in serving the Wine and Spirits sector for over 25 years. Their solutions encompass conveyor systems, sortation technologies, robotic automation, and comprehensive Warehouse Control Systems (WCS), all aimed at enhancing efficiency, productivity, and accuracy in logistics and distribution operations.
  • Magline Inc.

    Magline, Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of Magliner route distribution solutions and much more. We are a committed partner in helping to grow your business. By listening to your challenges first, our team can work with you to develop the right solutions that fit your unique distribution needs.
×

Elevate your expertise in the beverage marketplace with unparalleled insights and connections.

Join thousands of beverage professionals today. Shouldn’t you know what they know?

JOIN NOW!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing